Rodents & Nuisance Animals

Rat Exterminator in Massachusetts

Rat Exterminator in MA – Rat Control Call 781-893-2146

Waltham Pest Control provides rat extermination services to home owners throughout Greater Boston Massachusetts. If you have rats living on or inside your roof or eves or in your basement or walls, call Waltham Pest Control today and we will provide you with a free estimate to remove these rodents.

The Roof Rat is about 6” – 8” from their head to the rear end of the body, not including the tail. Their tail is an additional 7” – 10”. They are gray to black, with their belly being white, gray, or black. They have large eyes and ears and a scaly tail. Roof Rats are nocturnal and have poor vision, but a very good sense of smell, taste, hearing and touch. Roof rats are so named, because they prefer nesting in upper structures, such as attics. They also like spending time in and on house rooftops. They can enter structures through opening as small as ½”. Roof Rats are associated with the transmission of several diseases and pose a huge health problem.

The Norway, or Brown Rat, can live in close association with man. This rat lives primarily in basements and on the ground floor or in burrows under sidewalks or buildings. Although more comfortable on the ground, these rats can climb and have been observed traveling along telephone wires from one building to another. Rats are a public health concern because they are known to transmit many deadly diseases like bubonic plague, endemic typhus fever, ratbite fever, and a few other deadly diseases. Another element that makes these rodents so difficult to exterminate is that water doesn’t stop them. Rats can swim as far as 1/2 mile in water, travel in sewer lines and even swim against strong water currents. Rats constantly gnaw anything softer than their teeth, including lead sheeting, improperly-cured concrete, sun-dried adobe brick, cinder block, wood and aluminum sheeting.

Rat Treatment and Control

Prevention methods should always be practiced in order to maintain a rodent-free home. Keep possible food sources away from rodents. Small crumbs and garbage are popular sources of food for rodents. Waste from fruits and vegetables should disposed of properly and never left in sinks or on counters. Cardboard items are attractive to rodents because they tend to chew them up for use in their nests.

Traps and baits are effective however, they are extremely toxic to humans and pets. There are many different types of traps so find one that best suits your needs. Repellents may also be used to deter rodent populations. Both natural and chemical-based repellents are commercially available and are also effective. The smells of some plants, such as eucalyptus, wormwood and mint, can deter rodents. Repellent dusts produced by manufacturers work in much the same way.

Sound-based repellents are also very effective at keeping rodents from infesting your home. They emit sound at a frequency that too high for humans to recognize but very disturbing for rodents. The down side of this method is that the sound-based repellents also bother house pets. Although all of these methods work to varying degrees, working with a professional exterminator is often your best long term solution.